Pet goldfish may get banned in San Francisco

Officials in San Fran are worried that aquarium fish are bred under inhumane conditions or taken from the wild, so they are pushing for a pet sale ban that would even cover goldfish, guppies and tropical fish.

San Francisco’s ever-active Animal Control and Welfare Commission has renewed its push for a pet sale ban in the city – only this time, it even covers goldfish.

The idea is to put the squeeze on puppy and kitten mills that supply pet stores, and to discourage “impulse buys” of hamsters and other small pets that often wind up being dumped at shelters….

The proposed ban, which the commission just adopted after a year of study, was expanded to cover animal breeders as well as pet stores. As you might expect, it has local merchants like Ocean Aquarium owner Justin Hau dumbfounded.

“The city is taking more and more control,” Hau said. “They are very stupid.”

Last year, the commission proposed a ban that would make it illegal to sell cats, dogs, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and reptiles, but not fish, in an effort to curb impulse purchases that end up in shelters.

WOW! This is an example of what the Animal Rights agenda is all about. Ban the sale of all animals. Your pet is next. Please think before you support PETA, HSUS, Animal Legal Defense Fund, etc. These groups have a hidden agenda.

How dare San Francisco limit the suffering of animals and the environment when aquarium fish amuse us so! I know all the aquarium owners out there contribute a lot to the preservation of the fishes’ natural habitats and the vast majority of these aqua-critters live out their full lifespans in luxury!

I grew up with pets and have had pets all of my 67 years. To me they are like family. Life would not seem as good as it does without pets. Seems like some people in S.F. needs to get a life. Really, ban pet goldfish! I have heard of stupid things in my life and this is one of them.

As someone who works in a corporate pet store…I agree with this one hundred percent. While I love my job, and my co-workers are also very animal loving and try to take as good of care of the animals as possible. We overstock ourselves, we get from breeders who don’t take the best of care of their animals. The pets are stressed out very easily. And the big thing is that we get pet drop offs ALL of the time. From goldfish to dogs. Every week we have at least two animals dropped off and a dozen calls about someone wanting to drop off a pet. Usually because mommy and daddy decide to buy a snake for junior, or a frog, or some fish, or a puppy, or a kitten, or a gerbil. After a few weeks junior gets bored, parents don’t want to pick up the slack. They bring the pet in and leave it in our door step. Some people will put puppies in a cart and push it through our sliding doors and run off. People don’t feel like cleaning or doing basic upkeep on their animals and don’t want to pay someone to do it, so they get rid of the animal. Why do you think the Florida Everglades and many of our country’s bodies of water are in danger because of evasice species? Burmese Pythons, Asian Carps, Tegu’s, insects, ect. ect. I’m 100% for these regulations and bans. People shouldn’t get animals and then drop them off because they get bored, or let them lose, or just plain let them die.

There are other good reasons for banning the sale of pets other than humane treatment.

Look at the problems caused by exotic species being released by pet owners. The Florida everglades is being overrun by snakes from South American and African jungles, with no natural predators, that are killing off domestic wild species.

Coral reefs in the Caribbean are being invaded by the Lionfish, another exotic species with no natural predators there, which is gobbling up small indigenous fish in the Atlantic, and probably spreading into the Gulf as well.

Then there’s the immense pollution caused by pet waste (just look at the creek water quality in Austin). Spread of disease and cost of care (or destruction) of abandoned pets.

And here is where Animal Rights differ from Animal Welfare. Animal rights proponents don’t want you to have pets. Period. Animal Welfare want the pets to not be released into the wild, want the animals cared for, but won’t prevent you from having them.

Leave it to San Franfreakos to lead the stupid parade. I read recently where the last domestic auto dealership (Ford) left in San Fran is closing up shop because the yuppies and leftists that infect the area won’t buy American cars. Is there anyway we can shave San Fran off the continent?

Hey, remember a few years ago when PETA tried to get everyone to start calling fish “sea kittens” so they would supposedly sound cuter and fewer people would want to eat them? That was HILARIOUS. If nothing else, PETA earns its keep through sheer entertainment value.